The Asylum
by Yumi-Tsubato
Summary: My heart is beating so fast and loudly, I constantly fear that it will give me away. This is so shameful, I'm a hero, I shouldn't be cowering in fear like this…but as well as being a hero, I am no fool. I know that the second I emerge from this place, the only safe spot, it'll be the end of me but I need to find Mattie. No pairing.
1. Prologue

I didn't do anything to end up in this situation. All I did earlier today was go visit my brother and make sure he was still holding up. Now I find myself crouched up, uncomfortably, behind this desk belonging to one of the doctors praying that my life will be spared.

My heart is beating so heavily and so loudly I constantly fear that it will give me away. This is so shameful, I'm a hero, I shouldn't be cowering in fear like this…but as well as being a hero, I am no fool. I know that the second I emerge from this place, the only safe spot, it'll be the end of me.

Dear god what have I done?

I was just trying to help…I never wanted this, I never did! Why? Why is this happening? Why?

All I wanted was to see my little brother; all I wanted to do was spend some time with him. The last thing I wanted was to be locked in this asylum to keep a murderer from getting lose.

I never wanted this…

I just…

I just wanted to see Mattie…


	2. The morning

**Alfred might appear a little OOC but, seriously, trust me. Just give it a few chapters!**

**I wanted to write another mystery fic but instead it turned into a horror fic and I just decided to go with it. Anyway, I'll explain why Alfred might appear 'whimpy' at the end of this chapter.**

**Until then, ENJOY!**

* * *

I woke up to a grey sky like any other usual day. Ever since Mattie had been placed in the asylum everything had seemed grey, banal and sad. I missed my twin, he was my last family, the one to keep me grounded, my best friend and so many more things that would take much too long to enumerate.

About two years ago, I had done something completely horrible resulting in Mattie's entry to the asylum. I was up to one of my usual plans seeking adventure or merely excitement no matter how dangerous the activity, but Mattie tried to stop me as he usually did to keep me from getting hurt. My brother was always very worrisome and thought everything I perceived as perfectly safe perfectly dangerous, naturally, I'd try to reassure him and get him to stand back a little just in case something did happen. This time was different; he insisted on it being much too dangerous and came up after me.

We were in a junkyard; I was on top of a large mountain of junk reaching for the hook of a large construction machine that I thought much heavier than me. My goal was to exercise a little but more specifically climb onto the machinery and look at the world from that height.

Mattie was about halfway up when I finally managed to grab the hook and begin pulling myself up. He was yelling at me, telling me to come down before I hurt myself, that if I fell there was nothing to cushion my fall, but I didn't listen to him when I should.

I managed to pull myself on the arm of the machine and wobbly stand on the very edge gazing at the world. Seeing as I could only see a few mountains of garbage and the setting sun in the horizon, the world was shown to me as trash.

"Trash Mattie! That's all there is to the world!" I told him as he finally managed to reach the top, "It's never going to get better for us. The world is too mean."

"Alfred get down!" He insisted demandingly.

I ignored him as I ignored the sudden shift resonating through the broken machine, "What are we supposed to do, do you think?" I asked my voice seemingly booming through the world, "How are orphans meant to live in a world filled with trash!"

"Alfred! It's dangerous get down!"

"The answer is simple, we need to clean it!" I practically yelled, "We need to clean it because no one else will! By cleaning it we'll save it and everyone will thank us! We'll be rich, heroes and we'll never have to search through trash for food ever again!"

"Alfred!"

I paused before looking at Mattie for what might as well have been the last time, "It'll be wonderful! I promise!"

This time the machine shifted drastically almost making me fall off. While I managed to keep my balance, the machine continued to tilt forward threatening to crush all beneath it. Mattie was beneath it.

"Mattie move!" I yelled anxiously.

However, it was far too late, in a swift motion propelling me off, the machine collapsed onto the pile of garbage crushing Mattie. Luckily, for us, there was a man still on duty in the junkyard who immediately called an ambulance and came to help. He told me that he wasn't going to tell the police that I was trespassing since I had obviously learned my lesson and wasn't going to do it again but that if Mattie didn't make it, it would be on my head.

Mattie was shipped over to the hospital immediately in the intensive care unit; I stayed awake in the hospital for two days since they wouldn't let me see him. On the dawn of the second day, the hours of missed sleep were having their effect and I was dozing off. Just as I was about to succumb to inevitable sleep, a nurse came to see me to guide me to my brother.

We used the elevator to reach the floor on which my brother was situated but what surprised me the most was that it was a restricted area. The nurse inserted a key to unlock the button and pressed it guiding us to the thirteenth floor. Once the doors had opened, screams of insanity were exposed to me, as were mumbles from the lost. I didn't like this floor, or this place, it scared me and I wondered why they had brought Mattie to this floor.

"Room 13?" I asked a small smile forming, "That's a little ironic."

It was only made evident to me years later that the nurse had tried to force a smile on her face but truly pitied me for I didn't understand the meaning of what was going on.

I was let into the room where I found Mattie with a bandage around him head staring blankly outside the window.

"Here he is," The nurse said softly as if not to bother my brother, she grabbed my arm and leaned into my ear to whisper, "He doesn't remember a thing."

I freed my arm and gave her an incredulous look, "That's stupid; I bet he's just scared." I laughed, "Isn't that right Mattie? It's okay now, your big bro is here to protect you and take you home!"

Mattie hadn't moved an inch, not even at the sound of his name. I was confused and refused to believe the truth that was thrown into my face. I looked from my brother to the nurse who could only express the sadness she felt for me through body features.

"He's probably tired, you guys spent two days working on fixing him," I shrugged off and walked to Mattie's bedside. "You wanna rest bro?"

I was right next to him and yet, no twitch, no acknowledgement, no nothing.

"He's probably mad at me," I decided slowly reaching to touch him, "I'm sorry Mattie I won't ever—"

With a swift movement Mattie slapped my arm away and pushed me, "Don't touch me! I don't have any money okay!"

I had been so shocked he caused me to fall on the floor. Mattie glared at me for a few more seconds before calming down, sitting straight and staring outside the window again.

The nurse moved over to pick me up and brought me out of the room to explain.

"You seemed a little dense so I wanted you to see for yourself what had happened," she began softly as she bent down slightly to my level. "I don't know what you boys were up to or how this happened but the crash of the machine cause your brother's skull to crack and a small fragment of bone to stab into the part of the brain where the memory is contained."

She gave me a minute to take in everything and try to decipher what she meant on my own. When I nodded, she continued.

"Your brother was supposed to die but, by some miracle performed by our doctors, he still lives," she explained gazing into the room where my brother still absentmindedly gazed out the window, "Your brother has lost his memory, as I said before, and the doctors think it to be permanent. However, miracles do occur but area very, very rare. If you share a tight bond with your brother, he may remember you eventually but don't count on it."

"Is that the reason why Mattie thinks I want his money?" I asked my eyes permanently locked on my beloved brother.

"Partially," she admitted. There was a moment of silence where the nurse was trying to build up the nerve to tell me the next part of Mattie's situation. She needed me to encourage her to tell me before resuming, "the brain is a complex organ, just like the eyes, the way information is stocked has yet to be revealed clearly. The doctors believe that the part of bone that stabbed into your brother's brain may have affected his sanity."

"I…I don't get it…" I mumbled worriedly finally looking at the nurse.

"The boy you once knew as your brother is not sitting in that room." She finally said motioning the room we were just in moments ago.

The memory fogs up at that point. I remember telling her that she was exaggerating, that Mattie was still the same and running into the room to prove it to her. I grabbed Mattie's arm and he threw a fit and started screaming like all the other patients on the floor, even after I released him. Soon after a bunch of doctors flooded the room to restrain Mattie and force him to sleep with some liquid in a needle.

Later that day, after the nurse talked to me calmly again to get me to understand that things could always kept better if I kept believing they would and simply cheering me up, I asked to take Mattie home with me. I was told that he was not yet in a condition to leave the hospital and was then asked my age. When I admitted I was only sixteen but turning seventeen soon, she regretfully told me that I wasn't old enough to bring my brother home with me.

I begged, I cried, I screamed, I yelled, I promised, I did everything I thought of that could give me a chance to bring my brother home with me. More doctors came to see me and try to control me but I wouldn't allow it. Finally, they had to throw me out of the hospital for causing too much of a scene but that kind nurse wouldn't leave me before I knew what was to happen to Mattie.

"We're going to transfer him into the asylum where he will be taken care of by professionals." She informed kindly, "it's located just outside of town since the folks in here feel uncomfortable at the idea of people considered insane and potentially dangerous living amongst them."

She explained that there was a shuttle that came from the hotel and went to the asylum I could take to visit Mattie everyday since it was free of cost. Afterwards she wished me safety and left to go home as I left to do the same.

Everyday, I visited Mattie and refused to feel discouraged when he didn't remember me or freaked out because he thought I was a baddie. Eventually, he remembered me and didn't fear me, but being me was the only thing he remembered. No memories of us had ever returned to his memory but I was glad that at least I had returned to him.

I got off the broken bed I had gotten and cleaned difficultly from the same junkyard where the incident had taken place, it was very close to home but that time I had made sure to be safe. I stripped from my torn pyjama bottom since I couldn't find a top to go with it and put on some decent clothes I made sure to clean every day.

I went to the bathroom and noticed the amount of spiders on the ceiling had grown considerably and that I would have to kill them all when I'd come back home. I leaned my head over the broken sink and opened the faucet. The only water I had access to was cold and clean but I used it to my advantage in every way that I could. I soaked my hair with it and grabbed my pyjama bottom to dry up. I then put the pyjama bottom into the sink and filled it up with water to let it soak away all the gunk that had accumulated, when I'd get home I'd use the remaining soap bar to clean it properly and leave it to dry.

Quickly, I returned to my room, minding the hole in the floor, and searched the petty drawer for the hairbrush. I returned to the bathroom and stared into the glass fragment to fix my hair decently.

When I finished, I threw the hairbrush aside and carefully made my way down the rotten staircase, I reckoned that I would need to find a way to replace them soon. I put my shoes on and exited the house without eating a thing. I turned back to face the filth I called home and felt desolated. Life as a homeless person was hard but I was blessed to find a shelter that I didn't take for granted, no matter the crummy state.

Since I couldn't afford public transportation at the moment, I simply walked to the hospital which took about an hour and a half and got on the shuttle to the asylum. The driver greeted me and I sat in the front for a decent conversation with someone besides the receptionist and my brother.

"How's your brother doing?" He asked with a thick jersey accent.

"Just fine, his situation hasn't progressed much but I'm keeping hope!" I replied with forced enthusiasm.

"Oh! Before I forget," The driver bent to the left side of his seat to pick up something and extended it to me, "Happy 19 birthday, Alfred."

I was astonished that he remembered for I did not. "Thank you…" I stuttered surprised. I opened the bag where laid the gift only to find a wad of money, "O-oh wow…thank you so much…but I can't accept this…"

"Don't be so modest," the driver insisted, "I know how hard life is to you, this is the least I can do. Besides, this isn't coming from my pocket, no, my ex owed me some cash and I figured I'd give a fraction to you."

"Wow…How much did she owe you?" I asked dumbfound.

"Let's just say she's a greedy bitch."

The subject soon changed as the bus began to move since all the ones who were waiting for the shuttle seemed to be on board. We talked about a little more merry things to brighten up the mood and, although everyone on board was rather gloomy, hearing us talk and joke made some of them snicker and brighten their day.

Twenty minutes later, just on schedule, the large, tall gates of the asylum were seen and silence dominated the shuttle. They slowly opened with a sickening creak that I had never gotten used to. Every time it felt as if I was travelling through the gates of hell and I was positive I wasn't the only one to feel that way.

Thick greenery cut the view of the asylum itself for a few more minutes but not much could contain the view of those depressing, grey, prison like walls.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the asylum." The driver announced.

* * *

**So for those who didn't click on the reason Alfred is acting so out of it and un...well America-like and stuff is cuz he feels so guilty and horrible about the thing that the only thing he can think about is what he did to his bro. **

**Anyway, the old America we all know and love will come back eventually but, until then, SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!**


	3. The visit

**Chapter 2! We see our little Mattie and what has become of him!**

**Remember that the TV is a huge distraction. Anyways, ENJOY and SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!**

* * *

I got off the shuttle thanking the driver for what might as well have been the last time. The few others that had boarded along side with me all left for the B wing. The asylum was divided into two main buildings that were separated by a good ten minute of walk. The B wing, where everyone but me was headed, was where the mentally handicapped were kept while as the A wing was where the mentally insane resided. I had asked why the buildings had such a distance separating them and was told that the patients of the A wing were loud, hard to deal with and simply insane and some of the mentally handicapped patients residing in the B wing couldn't stand such loud noises or became overly anxious.

Nevertheless, I began my lonely walk towards the asylum feeling gradually more gloomy with the eerie atmosphere that permanently reigned in that section. The gardeners taking care of the plant life growing along the cemented path had long since abandoned their job due to their anxiety towards the insane patients. The cherry blossom trees that were meant to calm the souls of those passing through where dead and emitted the feeling one would get when walking through a graveyard at night. Bushes of what were supposed to be red roses to compliment the trees were merely bushes of thorns. No lovely birds sang a ballad of nature; however, the crows were given the luxury of singing a melody of death.

I soon arrived to the large, grim walls that were spotted from the shuttle greeted by screams of lunacy and shouts of panic from the doctors.

I sighed and walked it, it was just another typical day in wing A. I looked around in the reception room; no one was sitting on a chair waiting to be given permission to see a loved one, which was usual. What would be considered unusual would be to have someone be waiting, which was what I was until the whole staff got used to seeing me on a daily basis.

"Hello Alfred, wonderful day in the outside world?" Joked the receptionist in a bitter manner.

"Rain is threatening to fall any second." I answered monotone, I didn't enjoy this sort of comedy.

"Shucks," she cursed typing something rapidly on her computer, "Well, you're here to see your little brother again?"

"Yes."

"We've anticipated so, he's waiting for you in the meeting room." The receptionist indicated pointing very quickly at the typical room.

I nodded as thanks and just as I was leaving she stopped me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Come here," she bent down as I moved to her desk again and she gave me another gift bag, "Happy nineteenth birthday!"

"Thank you…" I mumbled looking inside. There was a plush polar bear that she said was for Mattie and some money to help with my situation.

I left to the meeting room where I found Mattie staring blankly out the window. I closed the door behind myself and it was only when he heard the loud click that he looked at me.

"Al!" He exclaimed happily. "Happy birth day!"

I smiled warmly, "Happy birth day to you too, bro." I replied as he jumped into my arms.

"What do you have with you?" He asked curiously.

"The receptionist gave us birthday gifts." I answered pulling out the stuffed bear for Mattie, "This one's for you."

My twin snatched it from my hand and began cuddling it immediately, "So soft…" he giggled nuzzling his face in it. "Oh! There's a tag! I bet his name's written there! What does it say?"

"Why don't you try reading it?" I suggested. The accident had caused Mattie to forget all his memories which included the capacity to read, write and count. He had been re-educated lately.

"Okay! It says…Ku…ma…jirou…" Mattie read with a grin. "Kumajirou! What a bizarre name!"

Mattie laughed and kissed the bear's nose before giving it to me as he went to fetch something. I looked at the tag and read what he had sited.

"Cuddle mate: Hero." I read aloud to myself.

There was still room for improvement but that didn't matter much with the happy attitude my brother carried with him even in such a gloomy place.

I waited about ten supplementary minutes before I decided to go to Mattie's room to find him. Since the staff knew me so well and trusted me, I was basically given permission to do almost anything which was to my advantage. They reminded me what room my brother slept in before opening the doors and letting me in. The first patient I encountered was _Mister Triste*_ as Mattie called him. He told me that this man had killed his wife by burning to death accidently and that all he did was mourn her every day. He also told me that mister Triste never spoke to anyone but he, Mattie had said it was because they both understood French and that was the only language he could speak but the patient clearly understood English.

I gazed at him shortly as he knelt in front of a large cross and began praying in French. I thought about how horrible it would feel to have something similar happen to me, but, I guess that in a way, it did.

The second patient I encountered had left his door open and was singing in Italian. However I knew what he was saying due to a translation given to me by one of the staff members. Mattie told me that the boy's name was Feliciano and that he went crazy after he learned that the love of his life died. The staff members told me a completely different story where he had killed seven people spontaneously.

"Hello, hello my beautiful friend, you who is so soft and so pretty, you are the prettiest…" He sang slowly and inharmoniously.

I shook my head and continued thinking that I shouldn't stop again or else the feeling of gloom inhabiting me would merely increase. But I couldn't resist the curiosity consuming me when the third encounter appeared.

He was a small British boy convinced that he was king of the sea and the greatest thing to be. Mattie told me that he was the most annoying person he was stuck living with because he kept playing with water and had it go everywhere.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you," resonated in a sinister way up ahead heading straight for me. As I was informed the first time, I moved aside to avoid all chaos that could take place if even my little finger brushed the patient. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you."

The whisper was almost as maddening as it was captivating. The only female tenant staggered pass me, her lifeless coloured hair flowing behind her as if she were a ghost. If it weren't for the bad condition she exercised on herself, she would have been the most beautiful woman I'd even have encountered.

Mattie told me her name was Natalya and that she killed thousands of women because they touched the man she loved the most. The same story was repeated to me by the receptionist but she added that Natalya had gotten so obsessive and paranoid that she killed the man she loved for fear that he would leave her.

I shuddered and continued trying to forget that dark, obsessive whisper that could freeze the blood of Jack the Ripper instantaneously.

Finally, I had gotten to Mattie's room where I heard the familiar British accent of his supervisor.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Doctor Arthur inquired.

I entered the room to find Mattie half way into a box trying to find something.

"A gift! I made a gift for Al!" Mattie chirped happily.

The doctor noticed my presence and smile as he waved me over, "Seems like Alfred got worried by the amount of time you were taking to get back." He laughed.

"Oh no…" Mattie cried disappointedly. He was suddenly on the verge of tears, "I-I…wanted it to be a surprise…but it's ruined…ruined…"

Mattie began growling and his trembling hands gripped his hair tightly as he repeated the last word he pronounced constantly. Arthur was quick to act and calm Mattie down before he hurt himself or us by accident.

I honestly liked the doctor, he took good care of my brother and he was the only one in this establishment that didn't think of this place as a joke nor its occupants. Arthur seemed to truly care for the well being of those assigned to him and treated them as best as possible. When I asked Mattie about him, he answered that he thought of the doctor as his mother.

"I-I'm sorry I made you wait a lot Al…" Mattie apologized once he calmed down, "I made you a gift and I…lost it…"

"That's okay…" I reassured him as well as I could and gave him the polar bear he now called Kumajirou. He cuddled it as he did the first time and showed it happily, to Arthur, "Maybe, since we're three, we can look for it together?"

"That's a good idea." The doctor agreed.

"Oh yay!" Mattie cheered, "Let's ask Kumajirou, see if he knows!"

Mattie asked where the gift was to his favourite present and brought it to his ear as if it were actually whispering the answer to him.

"Kumajirou says it's under my pillow!" He informed happily.

Arthur bent over the bed and moved the pillow, "Oh…" He mumbled surprised, "Here it is…"

Mattie broke into a fit of laughter, "Kumajirou's the best! He found it! He found it!"

I was happy with my brother but Arthur seemed to be preoccupied by something. He sat on the bed and leaned closer to Mattie, "Matthew, I'm having a small problem, I don't know what two plus two is, do you know?" he asked.

I thought it was a stupid question until I understood why he had asked the question.

"Umm…twenty four?" Mattie guessed after he had visibly tried to figure it out.

"No…I don't think it's that…" Arthur replied softly.

"Hmm…Let me ask Kumajirou!" my twin brought the plush to his ear and waited as if it was giving him the answer, "Four."

"And would Kumajirou know what twenty two times fifty divided by three is?" Arthur asked.

"He says it's 366.6666666666667." he answered after repeating the same movement.

"Very good, now can he round the number at the second number after the point?" Arthur continued.

"Kumajirou says it's 366.67."

"Can he round it at the first number?"

"367 he says."

I was as astonished as the doctor was, my brother remembered how to count and do math off the top of his head again. Not only that but he was really good, he didn't hesitate at all when he gave the number.

"It seems like you got yourself quite the helper." The doctor complimented resulting in Mattie giggling proudly.

"Wait…Mattie, can you ask Kumajirou to spell Mississippi for me?" I quickly asked before the subject was changed.

"Silly Al! I'll ask him just for you!" Mattie giggled, "He says M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i."

I nodded and was positive that there was still hope to have Mattie remember everything and be okay, he didn't consciously remember anything but subconsciously did. There was hope, all I had to go to make him remember was say or do a key thing that would unlock all.

"Well enough of questions for Kumajirou," Arthur declared changing the subject, "Don't you have a gift for your brother?"

"I do!" He scurried on the bed forcing the doctor to move out of his way and grabbed a piece of paper, "Here you go! Happy birth day Al!"

I smiled and looked at it, there was a picture that caused the hair on the back of my neck to stick up straight. "Mattie…what is this?"

Arthur seemed concerned by my reaction and question which lead me to believe he didn't see the picture drawn in why vibrant colours. He wanted to look at it but was pushed out of the room for some private time, as Mattie called it.

"It's your gift!" Mattie answered closing and locking the door.

"I know but what does this drawing mean?" I asked dryly.

"What it is." Mattie answered cuddling Kumajirou, "the receptionist lady that you don't like it going to die."

The picture Mattie had drawn was that of the receptionist indeed but with multiple knives stabbing her from everywhere. There was also _AW-070014_ written on the computer screen covered in blood.

"Why?" I asked slowly.

Before Mattie could answer, a large alarm went off and bars appeared in the windows. My brother jumped into my arms and screamed for the alarm to stop as he stabbed his fingernails into my back. My eyes darted all around the room as I held my brother expecting the worse to happen but the alarm stopped before anything else happened.

Dead silence reigned in the room and the screams of the other patients were inexistent. The silence was so heavy that you could hear a fly but no insect present in the building refused to move.

The door suddenly swung open and in came the mildly panicked doctor. "Are you two okay?"

"Yes." I answered for the both of us, "What's happening?"

"I don't know, I suggest you follow me." Arthur ordered more than suggested.

I got up holding Mattie's hand to make sure he would come along with me. If there really was danger I wasn't about to abandon him here. We followed the doctor pass the panicking tenants and the remaining staff trying to calm everyone down, there was so much agitation that Arthur grabbed my hand to make sure we were still following.

When we reached the meeting room the agitation died down but what scared the doctor was that the door was opened and the lock was broken.

We walked pass the table where Mattie and I had been only an hour earlier talking calmly. The gift bags from the receptionist and driver were still present and untouched.

"Dear lord…" Arthur gasped clenching my hand that I had forgotten he was holding.

"What?" I asked worriedly.

I moved closer holding Mattie against me just in case something would appear out of nowhere and potentially hurt him. He buried his face in my chest as the tension built and waited for my signal that everything was okay.

The view that was displayed for all eyes to see had almost caused me to vomit. The receptionist had been stabbed by multiple knives just like in Mattie's picture but she had one eye that was missing, her blood was splattered everywhere. The power suddenly died engulfing all in darkness and releasing blood-curling screams through out the building. I held Mattie close to me and tried to cover him as much as I could from a sudden attack.

"Fuck!" I heard the doctor curse as he let go of my hand and made his way to the doors. There were bars of iron covering them and were locked automatically. "Damn it we're trapped!"

"What's going on?" I asked daring to open my eyes momentarily.

"We're in code red." Arthur growled kicking the door angrily. "They've locked us in regardless the fact that we didn't do it!"

"I don't understand…"

"What isn't there to understand?" Arthur anxiously roared, "A patient finally snapped and killed someone. To make sure he or she doesn't escape they've locked all the possible exits to keep the murderer from escaping!"

I had nothing to say, to ask or to comment, the situation was clear and no matter how scared I was, I had to be strong for Mattie. I sighed giving cue to Mattie that he could stop worrying although it wasn't necessarily the case.

"Shhh!" He ordered bringing a barely visible finger to his lips, "You need to listen!"

The doctor and I remained silent for a moment but hearing nothing, I decided to speak, "Mattie I can't – "

"No, no! Shh!" He insisted reducing me to silence once more.

I closed my eyes and concentrated with ears to try and hear something, anything besides my own breathing and heart beating.

"Can you hear it?" He asked in a whisper. "The sound of silence?"

My heart that was once beating so quickly out of fear and confusing stopped. He was right, there was no sound, the other patients that had been so agitated before and that used to be screaming at the top of their lungs were completely silent.

Silence.

Who knew their could be anything so horrifying?

"The power…" Arthur whispered, "The power's out but the receptionist's computer is still working."

Arthur walked towards it and read what I already knew was written on the screen.

"_AW-070014·._"

* Triste is the French word for sad.


	4. The doctor

**A Promise Must Never Be Broken - Alexander Hamilton.**

**Enjoy and see you next chapter!**

* * *

To remain calm had been the hardest thing but what helped was that the doctor was with us, ready to maintain control of the situation. We moved to the meeting room where we closed the doors with tables and chairs and stuck to the light coming from the windows.

"This is the only time I curse that this building runs mainly on electricity." Arthur groaned.

"What's going to happen now?" I asked staring at Mattie who was playing with Kumajirou worry free.

"One of three things," Arthur began showing three fingers, "The first is that the cameras are still operational and someone is watching us and will send aid. The second thing is that the murderer breaks through the barrier of tables and chairs and kills us. The third is we find a way out on our own."

"Which option seems like the likeliest?" I asked hoping that it would be favourable.

"I doubt they'll send aid because we have your brother with us," Arthur began.

"Mattie didn't do it! He was with me the whole time! He's harmless!" I defended roughly.

"I know that, don't worry, but the people watching us, if there are any, don't." Arthur pointed out before continuing, "However since the power was put out from, most likely, the outside, it means that some things inside are still operational. We have a room where you can see all the security footage somewhere on the third floor, with the cameras, there is a chance we can find out who did this."

"But what good will that do?" I asked, "Unless the security cameras can see in the darkness they'll be useless. But if we actually do figure out who did it, what happens after that? It's not like the ones watching don't know either."

"That's true," the Brit agreed scratching his head as he pondered, "But knowing who it is and where this person is at the current moment can help us survive. We can also have a view of everywhere in the asylum so if an exit is made, we'll see it and be able to leave."

"You said the chances of that happening where slim because Mattie's with us." I stated angrily, "And I'm not about to abandon him just to get out of here alive."

"Then…" Arthur paused thinking of an alternative solution. He knew Mattie wasn't dangerous and that if there were people watching us, they wouldn't let us leave so easily for fear of having a dangerous patient wander into the town. "I got it!"

"You know how to get us **all** out of here?" I asked putting emphasis on a specific word.

"No, but I know where to find that." Arthur started excitedly, "On the second floor, there's the janitor's office that hasn't been used in a decade, but in there are the blue prints of this wing. If we find the blue prints, we can look for some passage way out of here. I'm positive there was at least one alternative passage made in case of an emergency."

"If there was one made," I began, "Wouldn't you know?"

"I guess I would but since this has never happened from the day the asylum was created back in 1912, they probably didn't feel the need to tell." Arthur pointed out.

"Fair enough," I agreed, "But to get to this place or any place, we need to pass through the barricade where the killer and other dangerous patients are loose. We're going to need things to defend ourselves with because there's no way you're going to convince me that we'll be fine unarmed."

"That's true…" Arthur got up and made his way to an end of the room that was consumed by darkness and broke something with a chair. We heard the class shatter and he suddenly returned with an axe, "But now we're armed and ready to go."

"Wait, can't we just break the door that with it?" I asked before we went off to do something completely unnecessary.

"We could break the glass composing the door." The doctor agreed, "But breaking the metal bars is a whole different story. They're so solid that I doubt we could make a dent."

He had a point; the main thing we had to concentrate on was getting out of here before dusk and take advantage of the day light outside.

"Shouldn't we take a flash light or something with us?" I asked as we began tearing down the barricade.

"Here's the good and bad thing about a flashlight or any light source," Arthur began throwing a chair aside, "The good thing is that we see where we're going."

"And the bad?" I asked pushing a table out of the way.

"It's much easier to spot." He groaned after pushing the last table away. "Think about it, it's practically pitch dark in there, having a light to show us the way will make us easier to spot, besides, with a little time our eyes will be adjusted to the darkness and we'll be able to make our way through."

"Shh!" Mattie spoke up suddenly scaring me, "You need to listen."

I exchanged a look with Arthur but we did as done and listened for something. I could faintly hear the sound of metal scrapping against a wall or something similar. I tried to listen harder when suddenly a scream echoed through the whole building. It was one of the staff members.

"Fuck that's close." I hissed grabbing Mattie's hand. "I heard metal scrapping against a wall before the scream."

"And I heard footsteps." Arthur whispered, "Give me your hand so we don't get separated. We'll go in a different direction."

I gave him my hand, "How do you know it's the different way?" I asked, to me it had felt like it came in all directions.

"I don't know, I guess you'll just have to trust me." Arthur said before pulling us into the darkness.

I was blinded for the longest moment but it seemed that Arthur's eyes adjusted immediately. Considering that I couldn't see anything and was completely useless at the moment, I decided to close my eyes and concentrate on hearing. I tried to hear something beyond our footsteps, as difficult as it was, and just as I thought I was about to hear something I tripped almost falling with Mattie.

"Ouch! What was that?" I whispered.

"Natalya." Mattie answered staring at the floor.

I looked to my turn as I noticed my eyes were adjusted. Natalya's eyes had been carved out of her face and a large smile going literally from one ear to the other was cut into her visage. The last thing I spotted before Arthur pulled us away was that her hands were cut off.

Being able to see, I stopped trying to hear for danger and decided to act like a second pack of eyes. I kept an eye on what was happening behind us just so we wouldn't be surprised.

"Al…" Mattie whispered, "Look…"

"Where?" I whispered back looking around.

"With you ears." He replied.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my ears. I could faintly hear someone singing but couldn't make out if it was a guy or a girl.

"Watch your step and the door," Arthur warned whispering as he opened the door leading to a staircase. "We shouldn't talk here since our voice will echo."

"Right," I agreed, "We have to be quiet, okay Mattie?"

Mattie smiled and pushed his finger to his lips, "Shh."

At first, I thought that he was just saying that because he understood but at the sound of a scream and stabbing too close for comfort, I knew he was warning us.

"Stay calm, move fast but be quiet!" Arthur warned strictly.

I nodded and we began climbing the staircase. I tried controlling the weight I put on each step as well as I could as to not make it creek under my weight but I faltered a little too often to my liking due to the pace that was set.

We made it to the second floor and quietly closed the door behind us when Mattie spoke again.

"Shh." He whispered, "Mister Triste."

"_Le temps est bon_…" his lonely voice resonated eerily through the hall. "_Le ciel est bleu…*_"

"Fuck, what do we do?" I whispered on the verge of panic.

Arthur let go of my hand, "We might have to fight him…" he whispered back. "Follow me quietly."

"_Nous n'avons rien à faire rien que d'être heureux_.**" Mattie sang noisily with him.

"Mattie! Shh!" I begged.

"Mathieu?" He called from somewhere ahead in the darkness.

"_J'arrive_!***" Mattie responded letting go of my hand and wandering ahead.

"Mattie! No! Come—" I yelled interrupted by Arthur's hand against my mouth.

"Quiet!" he hissed grabbing my arm.

"I can't just leave him!" I whispered roughly.

"Fine!" He responded in the same tone shoving the axe in my hands, "We're at the janitor's office, I'll be in here while you go fetch your brother. Knock three times so I know it's you."

I nodded and chased after Mattie calling his name in whispers. I peaked in every room just in case he decided it would be fun to play a game of hide and seek, however, I heard his giggle up ahead and chased after him.

The closer I got to his unmistakable laughter, I noticed a light. One of the doors were opened and day light was entering the darkened halls. I entered it cautiously, ready to strike this _Mister Triste_ if need be but Mattie jumped out of nowhere taking me off guard before I could find him or his friend.

"Hahaha! Scared you!" He laughed loudly.

"Yes but you need to be quiet." I whispered nervously.

"Right…there's a baddie!" He agreed pushing his finger to his lip, "Shh!"

"Right—"

A too familiar screech resounded through the hall from where I had left Arthur. Mattie quickly pulled me into the room and brought me to a dark corner where he forced me to crouch and wait. He was sitting next to me, nuzzling my arm with his face calmly and giggled here and there.

Soon I could hear steps and sickening splats of dense liquid, causing me to clench the axe tightly and subconsciously pray to a God I wasn't sure existed to spare my soul. The foot steps stopped in front of the room we were in; surely the light had intrigued the savage. Mattie tugged my sleeve and pushed a finger to his lips and winked, I nodded understanding that I would stay quiet.

A low groan still conceiving the identity of the killer came from the door and something suddenly flew across the room landing against the iron bared window, leaving a mark of evident red. It fell from the window and into the light which exposed a mere fraction of the metal ground we sat on, I held my breath as I realised it was the cut off hand of Natalya; not only that but the severed limb seemed to have been half eaten.

"Hey Al…" Mattie whispered as the steps began to leave.

"What?" I asked trying to control my voice's shakiness.

"The doctor."

My heart throbbed painfully assuming the worst. The one who screamed moments before the butcher paused in front of our room sounded so much like Arthur. Before checking on him, we waited a few additional minutes to assure that the threat had indeed disappeared. Slowly I rose being as silent as could be and helped Mattie up; we stalked down the hall to where I left Arthur. I stopped, almost dropping the axe, there he was, splattered against the wall, his jaw hanging from his face with just a thin piece of bloodied skin and his eyes were also carved out. What sickened me most was the brutality of the kill; his internal organs were simply hanging from the large gash spreading from his neck to abdomen.

"What's wrong with Iggy?" Mattie asked peaking over my shoulder.

"He…he went to sleep for a little…" I lied badly but I didn't know what to tell him.

"What a weird place to sleep…" He mumbled.

I nodded and walked pass Arthur's obliterated corpse gagging but containing myself. There was a vague flickering of what I thought was light but soon found out were sparks. When I was close enough to read with the few light emitted by the sparks I could read, _Danger: Voltage_.

"It's pretty." My twin giggled but I was too preoccupied realising something absolutely horrible.

"The power…" I whispered to myself, "it's been cut from the inside…no one can see us…no one can help us…"

"AW-070014." Mattie read in a voice he used to make Kumajirou speak, "I think I've seen that somewhere before."

At that very moment, I realised Mattie knew something he either wasn't supposed to know or didn't remember. I realised that if I could trigger his memory not only would he come back to me, but we could identify the killer as well as the danger he posed to us. Mattie was always very intelligent, he was able to learn a whole new language from a rotting book we found in the junk yard, if I could manage to bring him back he would proved to be an important help and we could definitely get out of this alive.

* * *

* Time is good, the sky is blue

** We have nothing to do but be happy

*** Coming!


	5. The Red Death

**I actually wrote the first part of this chapter a while ago and didn't bother to look all of it over to make sure it somewhat made sense with the second part.**

**Anyways, guess you guys will be the judge of that!**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

I gently closed the door behind us to keep the maniac from either finding us or killing us. Mattie had crouched down near the broken computer that emitted a faint light; I gave him a torn piece of paper to draw on. I based myself off the findings of the doctor earlier today, if Mattie really did remember things subconsciously, he would express through drawing without realising it.

"Al, we don't have anything to draw with." Mattie indicated as he snuggled his bear.

"Right…"

I looked around as quietly as possible, which wasn't easy since I had to look with my hands, but found a pen. I handed it to Mattie and waited for him to draw.

"What do you want us to make?" He asked a little too loudly for my comfort.

"You need to speak really quietly, okay Mattie?" I reminded putting a finger to my lips.

"Un-hun, sorry." He smiled whispering.

"And I want you to draw what you think is going to happen next." I instructed.

"We're going to live happily ever after." Mattie stated, sounding a little confused.

"That's right but, right now, what do you think is going to happen next?" I insisted nervously.

Mattie didn't speak anymore, I saw his vague silhouette nod before he began to draw. The way he was placed made it look as if Kumajirou was the one drawing and not him. I waited quietly, my heart beating heavier with every second that passed by.

Suddenly, my twin stopped drawing and looked at me, "Do we have to be extra quiet now?" He asked innocently.

I didn't have time to ask why he was questioning me so, a voice rang through the halls getting gradually closer. An insane giggle that soon turned into a frightful laugh froze the pulsing of my blood. I tried so hard to figure out the gender of the culprit but the voice was so neutral, that or the fear booming through my body was making it hard to think of anything else, let alone concentrate.

The voice slowly died down; stopping in front of the room we were hiding in. Panic began to rise, I couldn't remember if I locked the door or not, the only thing we had to defend ourselves was an axe but even then it was no guaranteed that we were a match.

_Calm down, calm down, calm down, it's not time to panic yet._ I kept repeating to myself in struggle to relax.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump against the door that almost caused me to yelp in fear; however, any minor sound I could have made would have been masked by the sickening sound of a feast taking place on the other side of the door. It was evident, and would be confirmed once we'd step out of the room, that the maniac was eating the corpse of Arthur Kirkland. It was horrible, just hiding as the corpse of a man you respected so much was desecrated and eaten.

I clutched the axe and jumped as Mattie touched my arm, concerned. I forced a smile that I wasn't even sure he could see due to the poor lighting, but it seemed to have reassured him for he resumed drawing.

After what had probably been the longest minutes of my life, ever, the steps trailed off. I only dared to breathe when I heard the door of the staircase close.

"Al, I'm done!" Mattie cheered scaring the life out of me.

"That's good," I complemented shakily, "But remember, shh."

"Right! Shh!" He grinned childishly.

I nodded and took the paper from him. I tilted it towards the vague light emitted from the broken computer. What I saw was to be expected, but was, nevertheless, frightening. There was a hall way painted in what seemed to be blood, there were corpse laying everywhere, some headless, orders completely dismembered. At the far end, the hallway blackened, two eyes and a hand holding a knife were the only things visible. Just as I was about to ask where this was, I noticed _F3_ on one of the bloodied walls.

"It's…a very good drawing…" I swallowed, "Why don't you explain it to me?"

"Is it because you don't get it?" Mattie asked hurt by the question, "Is it because it's ugly? Because you don't like it? Because…because…"

Mattie began another insanity tantrum, of the sort; he grabbed his hair again and started pulling. I quickly gave him a hug and whispered for him to calm down.

"No, no, I really do love it." I pleaded, "But all great artists explain their arts. It's a common thing."

I didn't actually know if it was true or not, but it made him feel better and that's all that counted.

"Oh…" Mattie smiled loosening his grip, "Okay, well, on the third floor, we're going to go to find something. Something important, but we're going to meet Mister Mean."

"Who's Mister Mean?" I asked.

"Mister Mean…" I noticed Mattie's grip tightening on Kumajirou, "Mister Mean is mean…he wants…he wants to hurt Al…he wants to hurt him real bad…Mister Mean says it's best…but I don't want to…I don't want to…"

"He won't hurt me Mattie, he won't." I began. I then said something I haven't said for about two years now, "I'm invincible, no one can hurt me, not even Mister Mean."

It felt bizarre to restart this speech pattern boasting about superiority, so much so that I smiled without meaning to and continued.

"B-but Mister Mean…he…"

"It doesn't matter," I cut him off, "No matter how mean Mister Mean is, he can't do anything to me. A-and you know why?"

My heart began to beat familiarly again.

"Why?" Mattie asked.

"Because…" I paused and grinned, "I'm the hero."

Mattie looked at me the way a kid would look as his father, filled with admiration and pride.

He nodded and smiled warmly, "You got to beat him first then," Mattie said. "You can't leave me alone or else I'll be really sad."

I patted his head gently, "Don't worry." I reassured, "It's like you said before, after we leave we're going to live happily ever after."

"With Kumajirou!" He chirped.

"With Kumajirou." I agreed.

I had my brother draw more pictures on the floor and walls since no one was going to bother after this whole affair. As he was killing time and playing with Kumajirou, I got to looking at the blueprints and thinking a way out of this crazy house. The layout showed that there were three floors to the building. The third contained a staircase in the very center leading to the roof. This was something important to keep in mind; if, worse case scenario, we wouldn't be able to use the secret passage way Arthur had told us about, we could escape by the roof but, for that, we would need a rope of some sort to help us get down safely.

I folded the blueprint of the third floor into a small square and pushed it in my left pocket. I then moved on to examine the other papers. There was nothing important on the second floor besides a garbage chute that led directly to the basement.

On the first floor, left from the stairwell at the east of the building, down the corridor that gave access to the cafeteria was a door which lead to the secret passage way we had been seeking. I folded that blueprint and placed it into my right pocket, since I was right handed, my first reflex would be to reach for my right when it came to pick up the layout that would serve as a map.

I took a quick glance at the layout of the basement but all I vaguely remembered was that where the garbage chute landed was located at the farthest point away from the stair set leading to the first floor.

"Hey Al," Mattie said having me jump out of my skin, almost literally, "There's no space left to draw…" He mumbled sadly.

I looked at the walls and shivered. What he had just finished drawing was a large eye seemingly crying blood, but that might just have been me. The tear escaping the drawn eye stretched down to the bottom of the wall becoming a large wave filled with corpse. Now how did I know they were corpse? Some of them, most of them, were disembodied. Around the large, complex organ were knives and faces composed with tortured expressions. It was as if Mattie had depicted what had happened all over the asylum in this large piece found on the wall.

"That's okay, we're almost done here," I whispered, "We'll be moving soon."

"Okay."

Mattie sat on the ground and nuzzled his face into Kumajirou. I watched him for a moment as I thought about how I would approach the a technique that would help me unlock his memory.

"Hey Mattie," I began improvising; I figured I would ask him about memories of the past that were fond, "I told you we were orphans right?"

He nodded, "Right!"

"Did you know that orphans go through all sorts of adventures?" I asked not sure where I was going with this.

"Whoa! Really!" He chirped amazed a little too loudly but he seemed to have noticed, "Oh right, shh!"

I nodded, he hadn't reacted the way I wanted him to but I decided to continue since he was probably expecting an example. I went with the memory that he must have treasured the most since it had a significant value.

"Yeah, there was this one time," I paused and giggled, Mattie seemed to be intrigued by the story I was about to share, "When we didn't have a stable home, we always wandered around looking for a dream house. Something we both dreamt of together, we even made a picture. Then, one day, we found it but it was in a pretty bad condition but I wanted to go in anyways because I was curious. Do you know what the inside looked like?"

Mattie shook his head.

"It looked like a scene from a horror movie!" I exclaimed quietly but with passion that started to make me feel like my old self, "The inside was very dark and scary, there was some furniture but it was either broken or rotten and the house creaked so much when we walked, you were convinced we'd fall through the floor. Then, we found a door to the basement, it must have been the worst part of the house since the stair case just plunged into darkness."

"Scary." He stated hugging Kumajirou tighter.

"Yeah, it was a little," I smiled in agreement before I continued, "You really didn't want to go but I was just so curious I dragged you with me. We went inside the basement and we couldn't see anything! So we waited a little and our eyes adjusted but it was still hard to see. We wandered around a little and then you said: 'Do you hear that?'. I listened carefully and heard some sort of growl that, regardless my epic bravery scared me."

"And then we turned to go back and saw some little eyes staring at us…" Mattie continued flawlessly which made me gawk in surprise and urge him to continue. But he just stopped and smiled brightly, "Go on."

I sighed, "Right so we saw tiny, flashing eyes in the dark," I resumed, "You screamed like a little girl and hugged me."

"But you were scarred too!" He interrupted, "Right?"

"A little," I lied with a smile, "The thing got closer and closer and you thought we were going to die for sure. That's when I noticed that the growl was actually a purr and that the creature with the bright eyes was actually a cat."

"And we kept her, right?" Mattie asked excitedly, "What did we call her?"

"What do you think we called her?" I asked hoping he would remember.

"Maple!" Mattie suggested with a laugh.

"Very funny." I said sarcastically.

But he was right. That was the name we – he – gave the cat. She died the following year after giving birth to kittens that we sold for money.

When he was done laughing I asked him to be quiet and listen, it was time to move and since he seemed to hear better than me, it was more prudent to ask if he could hear movement. He shook his head indicating that there was probably no one besides us on this floor. It was the time to move, and we had to do it fast.

I got up, clutched the axe tightly and extended my hand to my brother. "No matter what…" I whispered as he took it, "Don't ever let go."

He nodded and followed me out of the room. I looked right and left to try to see anything but the only thing that was to be seen was a faint ray of light from that room we hid in. I started to walk towards the left, ignoring Arthur's decaying body as I did so.

"Good night." I heard Mattie whisper.

I continued towards the staircase when I felt Mattie begin to pull on my hand. I didn't want to stop be he grew more insistent with every step I took.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We need to hide." He replied, I noticed that he sounded very nervous which was rare, even in this situation.

"Why?" I asked again feeling anxious.

"He's coming!"

Mattie began to pull frantically in the opposite direction and I let him guide me for once. Just then the door of the staircase opened and a loud roar, sounding inhumane, rung through the whole building. The crazy tenant charged us and I started to panic. I needed to get Mattie away or else he would get caught in the fire of the fight and get hurt. Luckily for us, there was the garbage chute only a few meters away.

"Mattie! Jump in!" I yelled letting go of his hand.

I had a hard time seeing the snapped patient but saw his blow just in time to block it with the axe. I kicked in his general direction, landing a solid blow and sent him back a few steps.

"Hurry!"

"B-but you said to never let go—"

"This isn't time for that, Mattie!" I begged, "Please just go, I'll meet you down there, I swear. I'll find you no matter what!"

Mattie seemed to hesitate, "Promise…?"

"With all my heart." I replied.

I turned my gaze away from my little brother and concentrated on my opponent who charged me again. He seemed to be wielding a large kitchen knife that he probably got from the cafeteria. Just before he swung it down again, I heard the sound of my brother entering the chute and following it down to the basement. Again, I managed to block it but it passed dangerously close to my face, I could almost see the attacker's face but I kicked him away again before that.

I thought of striking back for a change but he had decided to hide himself in the darkness, probably taking it to his advantage. I, being no fool in this situation, decided to stay where it was safer and in my favour, waiting for him to come back within range. But the unexpected happened, and he threw his knife at me.

If it wasn't for the faint glistening of the blade slashing through the air, I wouldn't have managed to dodge in time, avoiding a sharp instrument from landing in the center of my face. However, it did still slice my cheek rather deeply but not enough for it to be worrisome.

The assailant immediately jumped out of the shadows and tackled me to the floor, unarming me and pinning me there with his weight and dangerous grip around my neck. With abnormal force, he began to choke me and laugh as he did so. I tried getting a glimpse of his face but my angle was unfavourable and so he still remained a mystery to me.

I was now in another distasteful situation but never as worse as the one that put Mattie in this hell hole. The bastard's grip tighten and his breathing became more excited as I struggled less and less due to loss of energy. I could see the light up ahead, from that room we opened, it was now golden and very faint. It must have been the sunset.

I closed my eyes and thought of my little brother, of the promise I made to him just before sending him down the chute.

Was I really going to die this way? Without fulfilling the promise, he had made so desperately before leaving my side? Had that been the last time I would see him?

I didn't want to die.

Not now.

It's too soon.

* * *

**So my friends? Does America die leaving poor Canada to fend for himself and slowly go gradually more insane? Because the idea does sound appealing...**

**SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!**


	6. The Escape

**Who still reads this thing?**

**It took me a while but the next chapter is finally out so I won't keep you waiting any longer!**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

My promise.

I've never broken a promise before because I was always the hero. No matter how difficult things got for us because we couldn't rely on adults or parents, I always kept my promises to Mattie. Sometimes, he thought it was completely useless and exaggerated because it was something he considered to be small but, to me, it was so very different. No matter what it was, I felt the need to give it to Mattie or to ourselves because it demonstrated to me that we were more than capable of taking care of ourselves, to be independent. Basically, it reassured me.

In the end, I never knew if Mattie understood what it meant to me to keep a promise before he lost his memory.

The more I thought of my beloved twin, the more I wondered how he felt at the given moment. I told him not to move after he jumped down the chute, I wondered if he was scared and if he genuinely thought I would make it out alive somehow. He had been so scared that whoever this asshole was would be the end of me and he seemed to have feared so appropriately.

I wondered what would happen once I'd finally die; would that bastard try to find Mattie? Would he kill him too or let him live since, from what Mattie said, he seemed to like him? The more I wondered, the more I realised I didn't want to know and I didn't want any of these what ifs to come true. I wanted to protect my little brother like I promised before and I didn't want this crazy bastard touching him or going anywhere near him anymore.

With my remaining strength I stretched my arm and felt around for the axe I had been carrying or anything else that could be used as a blunt weapon. Finally, I grabbed the handle of the axe and hurriedly smashed it against my attacker. I felt the blade penetrate his flesh which was followed by a deafening scream. He released my throat allowing me to breathe once more and ran off immediately, ripping the axe from my grip.

I reached for my throat and coughed noisily as I wheezed. The only thought crossing my mind at the moment was that I needed to get off the ground and find Mattie, but I also needed to find a weapon to defend myself with now that the maniac had left with my axe.

I crawled off the ground and made my way into the nearest room which happened to be the staff room. I closed the door and bared it with a chair before heading for the desk that was the furthest away from the door and hide beneath it.

I didn't do anything to end up in this situation. All I did earlier today was go visit my brother and make sure he was still holding up. Now I find myself crouched up, uncomfortably, underneath this desk belonging to one of the doctors praying that my life will be spared.

My heart is beating so heavily and so loudly I constantly fear that it will give me away. This is so shameful, I'm a hero, I shouldn't be cowering in fear like this…but as well as being a hero, I am no fool. I know that the second I emerge from this place without a weapon, the only safe spot, it'll be the end of me.

Dear god what have I done?

I was just trying to help…I never wanted this, I never did! Why? Why is this happening? Why?

All I wanted was to see my little brother; all I wanted to do was spend some time with him. The last thing I wanted was to be locked in this asylum to keep a murderer from the public.

I never wanted this…

I just…

I just wanted to see Mattie…

But there it started again, this self pity that had imprinted itself in my mind ever since the incident all those years ago. I had to stop it, this wasn't the time to be remorseful, it was the time to go back to my old self, do the impossible and save my little brother. I had to do it quickly but I couldn't do it foolishly or else it could mean both of our lives.

Since the door was still locked, I decided to camp under the desk a little longer until I was sure that I wasn't hearing any steps in the general area. Once my suspicions put to rest, I began to roam around the staff room in search of anything that could help me. I looked through all of the drawers, bags and lockers in the room to find things of rather good use such as a flashlight that helped me find a small Swiss army knife, a taser, a small bag of Fishies* and a handful of band aids. Weapon wise, I can safely say I preferred having the axe in my hands but you got to work with what you have.

I placed the taser in my left pocket, with the butt sticking out so that I could grab it quickly and use it at a moment's notice since I didn't have my brother's ears to tell me if someone was coming. In my other pocket, I placed the band aids and Fishies, as for the Swiss army knife, that was the weapon I would currently use if I were attacked. I was not familiar with the functioning of a taser and this one was pretty small and basic; and if it only had one charge – which I assumed it did – I didn't want to waste it on some other crazy that I could have easily handled without the knife, I wanted to reserve the shot for that bastard that now had an axe and scared my little brother.

After a moment of convincing myself that I was prepared and would be fine in case of a confrontation, I removed the chair that locked the door and cautiously headed out the room. I was careful to silence my breathing briefly as to hear strictly the sounds the eerie asylum held for me. Assuming the coast was clear; I vigilantly stepped into the corridor and was met by the troublesome sound of a splash. I didn't look down to see what it was but it was pretty evident that it was probably blood from another victim.

I felt a large mass at my feet a little further ahead and it took all of my will power not to look at my feet and just step over it. I had taken no more than three steps away from the corpse before I heard a faint voice singing:

"_Le temps est bon…le ciel est bleu…_"**

I turned around and allowed myself to quench my curiosity by staring at the corpse of the now dying victim. The hall way was dark and I vaguely recognized the man at my feet as the one my little brother called Mister _Triste_.

His blond hair was darkened with blood and his legs were clearly chopped off - that sicko was probably eating them as time went by. As for the rest of him, it was scratched up badly – they were actually probably worse than scratches but the darkness prevented me from seeing clearer – by something I assumed was the axe he had stolen from me.

"_Nous n'avons rien à faire, rien que d'être heureux…***_" he uttered with his dying breath.

I had no idea whatever he was singing meant but it sounded almost as sad as his tragic passing. Even so, there was no time for me to mourn him, I had to find my brother and get him out of here as fast as I could.

With my resolve being set, I ran to the stairwell in my given direction and cautiously slowed down as to not have my steps echo and give away my position. I crept down the stairs, holding my breath to better my hearing of my surroundings when I suddenly heard a heart throbbing cry resound near the door I was headed to.

The stair case was dark and so I thought it best to camp in a corner, where the darkness was deeper and hope the woman screaming for her life didn't come in my direction. The knife was trembling in my hand and my heart suddenly stopped when I heard her shriek:

"Someone, please help me!"

Reality struck as the woman continued begging for her life hopelessly; I, the hero was cowering in a corner, waiting for the threat to pass while an innocent soul was menaced by death. How…illogical…

Without thinking, I jumped out of my hiding place and dashed towards the door which separated me from the woman on the first floor. I swung it open and caught her as she fell back; at first she screamed louder than before and nailed me in the face but I somehow managed to calm her down.

"Hey, shh, calm down." I pleaded constantly until she finally realised I wasn't like the others, "I'm not a Crazy…I just came to visit my brother…and this happened…"

"Y-you have to help me…" she begged, her voice trembled incredibly, almost as much as her body. She then gestured her abdomen that was covered in a dark stain that I knew to be blood, by the sent of it. "he came at me…" she now sounded incredulous, "with an…_axe…_"

"…Where—"

I didn't have time to finish that a sickly, insane laugh too close for comfort interrupted me. I didn't even have the time to look up that I flinched as something sharp was quickly brought down and lodged itself in the skull of the woman I had been trying to help. He struggled with removing the axe as I blankly stared at the dead woman but he soon gave up on the weapon and ran off in the direction of which he came with that same, sickly laughter.

After some moment, I pushed the corpse off and cowered away in horror. I had been holding a dead person, a corpse…she had literally died in my arms and I wasn't able to do anything to help her. And as I realised that, my mind wandered to the axe that stuck out of her head and the thought that, if I didn't take it, that bastard would return and rip it out himself. But then there was the weighing thought that I'd be desecrating the corpse of a woman so recently deceased and I hesitated to do anything.

However, I had to think of my safety and that of others and so I realised that I had to take the axe with me. I got up to my feet and advanced slowly towards the body as if it would begin to move again.

_It's okay…_ I thought as I wrapped my clammy fingers around the handle, ready to pull, _She's dead…she's fine…she's dead…just don't think about it…_

And I did as such.

I pulled, without thinking, as hard as I could and screamed to cover up the sense of horror that filled me as I felt the axe slowly break free from the bone. It dislodged suddenly which made me lose my balance and fall against the door, hitting my head doing so. My vision blurred temporarily but came back soon enough thus allowing me to continue exploring this dreaded asylum.

I opened the door to continue my way into the basement, quietly, and trying to ignore the fact that I had just had someone die in my arms moments ago.

Finally, I reached the bottom of the stairs that led me to the basement. The area was generally dark which was due to the lack of windows. I pondered on whether or not I should use the flashlight I had so recently acquired and eventually figured that that sicko didn't come down here. I grabbed the flash light and tried turning it on but to no vale. The batteries must have died thus this item was useless to me and so I threw it away.

I wasn't comfortable with the idea of entering a dark place that didn't have any source of light and that was also unfamiliar to me but it was my brother's life on the line here – not to mention my own – and some things had to be done.

Cautiously, I opened the door and cringed at the sound of the horrid creaking emitted by the rusty hinges.

"Mattie?" I called out in a whisper.

I heard nothing and so ventured forward. I passed through a hall way I didn't remember from the blue print I vaguely examined and regretted not bringing it with me before I heard the faint sobbing of what I was sure was my brother.

"Mattie?" I tried again a little louder.

The sobbing stopped.

"Al?" he responded.

My heart beat accelerated. I had finally found him, now we could get out of this stupid place through that secret passage in the cafeteria.

"Mattie." I said a little louder, "Where are you?"

"I'm over here." He responded unhelpfully.

"Do you know where I am?" I tried.

"About."

"Then come to me, I'll wait." I told him.

He said "okay" before making his way towards me. I didn't know he had done so until he jumped on my back and gave me the biggest hug I ever received. Then, he began crying openly in my shirt and I had to console him.

As I had every other time in the past, I wrapped my arms around him comfortingly and brought him as close to me as I could, squeezing him tightly because it made him feel safer – or so he had once told me.

"I-I was s-scared." He whimpered.

"I know."

"I-I thought y-you died…"

"I'm fine."

"I-I heard s-screaming."

And I just sighed deeply, it wasn't like I could tell him that whatever he heard was fine, that it was nothing to worry about because he knew everything wasn't fine and it was something to worry about. This sweet reunion and this moment of comfort in each other's arms was short lived for we had to continue and get out of here.

"Come on," I said with a soft smile that I wasn't even sure he saw as I took his hand, "Let's go home."

He might have smiled and nodded, but I didn't see. I felt him calm down and let himself be led by me as I retraced my steps back to the door that would open up on the stairs. Of course, due to our wondrous luck, I was expecting the psycho to be there but we were lucky this one time and he wasn't.

We climb the stairs all the way to the first floor and waited as to give me a chance to view the layout of the building. I took the 'map' from my pocket and brought it as close to my face as possible to see what was written on it. For some reason the lighting from outside seemed to have changed a lot since before which got me thinking that time had probably passed faster than I expected and that night was falling.

"Alright," I sighed, "Do you know how to get to the cafeteria?"

Mattie nodded with a huge smile plastered on his face, he was probably glad he could help. "Un-hun!" He chirped happily and began leading the way, "Follow me."

He pushed pass the door and I had completely forgotten about the dead woman laying there until he tripped on her and almost fell. I caught him just in time and covered his eyes as to spare him from the horrendous sight. In truth, I didn't know whether or not he could actually see her since it was darker than it had been before and I didn't know if he could see as well as he heard, but I didn't want to take my chances. Who knows how he would have reacted if he saw her?

"Careful." I whispered and helped him step over her.

"Sorry…" he whispered back before taking the lead again.

I'd say about two minutes later, we reached the large doors of the cafeteria which had more windows thus it exposed the room to more light. I wished that it would have been night outside.

The room was caked with blood and dead bodies, everywhere and it was evident by the amount of organs spilling from each of the dead that it hadn't been a pleasant moment or a painless death. I was so disgusted by the sight, repulsed by the smell and tormented by the power of my own imagination that couldn't keep in whatever content I had in my stomach.

I threw up on the ground having Mattie lean against me in concern, "Are you okay Al? What's wrong?"

It had taken me a moment to catch my breath and regain myself before answering, "It's…nothing. Don't worry about it." I said as I stood straight.

I looked around the room once more, this time I was overcome by a feeling of desolation. I couldn't help but wish that I had been there at the time so I could have helped them but I knew that I probably would have been sprawled on the floor like the rest of them if that would have been the case. With a heavy sigh and began giving out orders to Mattie.

"We're almost out of here." I told him with a smile on my face.

He smiled brightly in return, "That's great!"

"Yeah, but we need to buy ourselves some time." I explained to him. "We need to block the door as best we can so Mister Mean doesn't come after us, okay?"

Mattie nodded vibrantly, "Okay!"

Together we combined our forces to move the few tables and chairs that hadn't been bolted to the ground in front of the door. It had taken us a good hour and a half, giving enough time for the sun to begin setting before we finally barricaded the door to my contentment; in the process, we also moved the corpse of the deceased to the western side of the room, respectfully as to move them out of our way.

With a satisfied sigh, I placed my hand on my hips and stared at our work. This would definitely keep that creep out and keep us from worrying about our safety since we also seemed to be the only ones left alive in the building.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked turning to face my brother.

I was a little surprised to see him with Kumajirou on his face, holding his paws as to make him gesture when he spoke, "Alfred, you forgot to do something important." Mattie said imitating the voice he used to impersonate his cuddly friend, "Do you know what it is….?"

I waited a moment before answering. "No…"

"You didn't check the kitchen." He said and then put the bear down as he returned to his normal – well, not normal but…, "Al, I'm scared."

I knew there was something wrong and I knew I knew what it was but didn't want to admit it to myself.

"Why?" I asked and tried to comfort not only him, but myself as well, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Yes there is." Mattie replied, he frowned deeply and I thought he was about to cry, "Mister Mean is in the kitchen…"

"Diner is ready!" a voice I couldn't identify chimed from the kitchen's location, "I hope you don't mind…we're having legs!"

As the evil laughter echoed through the room and through the rest of the empty asylum, I couldn't help but look back at the barricade we had made and think:

_What have I done?_

* * *

*I don't know what you call them but these are basically the world famous Gold Fish snacks xD

** Time is good, the sky is blue (in French)

*** We have nothing else to do but to be happy (in French)

* * *

**So next chapter might be the last one (it would make so much sense) but I still don't know where I'm going with this so who knows?**

**Sorry this took so long, btw, I hope you guys still read it xP**

**And I would also like to take the time to advertise a new story called **Bad Ass **which has nothing to do with this genre of story. It's actually a comedy thing where Canada tries to woo America (it's a CanAme) so go check it out while you wait for the (possibly) last chapter!**

**Honestly, this thing was supposed to be longer, like they were supposed to fuck something up and escape by the roof but I clearly changed my mind xD**

**Oh! One last advertisement! So there's another new story I made (not as new as **Bad Ass**) and its called **Thus They All Died**. So if you guys like this genre and love a good mystery thriller, seriously, go check it out! Thanks!**

**Don't forget to leave a review!**

**SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!**


	7. The Eternal Nightmare

**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (if there ARE gentlemen in the house - HALLLAAAAAA...lulla!) the final chapter of The Asylum. I personally think its a good ending and might anger some of you and make you be like: "ARY (because that's my nickname) Y U DO DAT!?"**

**But whatever.**

**THANKS TO the **US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Mexico, France, Puerto Rico, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Germany and Austria **FOR THE WORLD WIDE VIEWS!**

**And, without much ado, the last chapter of The Asylum.**

**ENJOY!**

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What have I done? I just condemned Mattie.

It took us so long to pile up the chairs and table in front of the only entrance, there was no way we could manage to tear it all down and escape. I looked at Mattie who seemed utterly terrified and held Kumajirou close to his chest and then at the kitchen where that psycho shamelessly made noise as I weighed my options.

There was only one way to get out of this alive.

Before I could do anything else, I noticed something shine very briefly from the corner of my eye and ducked out of reflex. I heard Mattie yelp as something sharp stabbed into the wood of one of the chairs piled up at the entrance. When I looked back, I noticed it was a knife.

I looked at Mattie again, he was on the verge of tears and I didn't know what to do to comfort him. I had to think fast because Mister Mean wasn't going to give me much more time before he attacked again and so I had to weigh my priorities. It was me or Mattie.

"Mattie!" I barked, gaining all of his attention immediately, "Go into that corner over there." I gestured a side of the room, "Stay down until this is over and don't move!"

Without question, which surprised me, he obeyed and ran to the designated location. Just then, two more knives came at me and I just managed to dodge them having only one slice my cheek. I could feel the warm blood drip down my face slowly but the adrenaline pulsing through me was as such that I felt nothing.

"Ah! The food is ready!" Mister Mean sang from the kitchen. He threw a leg at me and began laughing, "I hope you like French food!"

I then remembered how I saw Mister Triste, dying on the ground with his legs chopped off. Disgust filled me and I almost threw up but held it in, it wasn't time to be overcome by any emotion. I had to kill this guy first, get Mattie out this asylum and bring him home.

I reached for the taser in my pocket, sighing in relief that it was still in place and pondered on whether I should get closer. I wasn't familiar on the distance the gun-like weapon in my pocket could reach and since I needed to get close to do much of anything, moving forward seemed like a good idea. However, I remembered that he had just thrown three knives at me and who knew how many there were in the kitchen? If I got closer, the time for me to dodge something lethal would shorten and so I decided it would be safer for me to wait for him to come out of the hiding spot on his own.

Sure enough, the crazy bastard kicked open the kitchen doors and threw two more knives at me, which I dodged once more with ease. He laughed hysterically from his location as he started hitting the things around him that we hadn't touched.

"Oh this is so fun!" He laughed, gritting his teeth.

I looked in his direction and, regardless of the setting sun; it had been the first time that I actually saw him properly. He was wearing a straitjacket with the arms dangling at the back of the fabric, torn from the torso; two leather straps crossing over his chest which lead me to believe it was for supplementary restraint, as if this guy was worse than the worst. That shirt also had a hood that he kept on his head, which covered half of his face, keeping me from identifying him but allowing me to notice the blood smeared around his mouth. The rest of his ensemble was white, I could tell that much, but there were dark stains tattering the pureness of his clothes which I knew to be blood.

"It's like a fairy tale," he chuckled as he slowly walked towards me, "the dashing prince saves the little princess by slaying the awful dread lord who dared to kidnap her."

I didn't say anything to the comment. What was I supposed to say? It wouldn't have mattered anyways; this guy was out for blood and my brother for some reason and would stop at nothing to take him away from me.

Without warning, he leaped forward brandishing a particularly sharp knife and swung it like the mad man he was towards me. The suddenness of his actions had taken me off guard thus giving him the time to get too close for me to use the taser. I blocked a fatal blow with the axe I held tightly in my hands just in time, causing Mattie to gasp from the corner that kept him temporarily safe.

Mister Mean took a quick step back before swinging his knife once more, aiming for my neck. I ducked and whammed the butt of the axe into his gut, winding him for a moment. I took this opportunity to back up quickly and pull out the taser, the key to my victory, but I had acted too slowly. The second the weapon had been pulled from my pocket, he lashed out at me again, unarming me from victory and reducing me to protect myself with the axe.

"That's cheating!" He laughed as he chained his violent movements quickly, "Blunt weapons only! No guns allowed!"

The series of heavy strikes had forced me to back up in order to control the impact and doing so had caused me to accidently kick the taser away, into the darkness that grew in the room. It was safe to say that the thing wouldn't be of use to me for a while considering there would be no hope for me to find it in the given circumstance.

Finally, I managed to break his chain of attacks with a rough kick to the chest, forcing him to back off. I took the opportunity to swing my axe down but my movement had been too big and too slow thus resulting in a miss. I immediately followed that attack with a horizontal swing to the chest that he had managed to dodge once more but felt the blade cut through a part of his shirt.

"My shirt!" He screeched, he stopped everything he was doing to grab at the torn fabric, "You ruined it!" then he giggled to himself, "Well it was already ruined with the blood…"

In his moment of distraction, I had decided to strike again but this time, to my surprise, he had caught my axe and, with surprising strength, had ripped it from my grip. He flung it at the other end of the room, into the dark just like the taser thus leaving me to use the small Swiss army knife. Blocking with the petit weapon would be near impossible and so I would have dodge which would be difficult.

I couldn't help but curse. If only I had the taser! It would have allowed me to end this much faster!

Mister Mean grinned a sickly grin and lifted his chin, I could vaguely see the white of his eye which disgusted me and made me feel rather nervous. He laughed at my reaction, "This is so, so, so fun!" He laughed.

He swung the knife vertically, I stepped quickly to the right having the blade graze my arm and decided to run back a little to gain some distance and think of what to do. He watched me leap away before laughing again and coming after me, having me panic. Without thinking, I threw the knife at my opponent, piercing his left shoulder which also ripped a deafening scream from his mouth. I barely flinched, because I had to act fast, and dashed towards the darkness to find the axe I had so recently lost.

I hadn't thought of the consequences of my action. Said part of the room was so dark that I couldn't even see my hand placed in front of my face. I blindly patted the ground, looking for the axe frantically knowing full well that the more time it took for me to find it, the closer I got to death.

Suddenly, I heard the steps of the creep sneaking up on me and instinctively rolled to my left, hitting the wall, as I heard his knife resonate after hitting the ground. I threw a chair in his general direction, hitting him dead on. I dabbed around the floor for a few more seconds before my fingers brushed the handle of the axe but before I could grab it, I felt a something hit my gut at full force.

I collapsed on the ground, wheezing for air as Mister Mean's large hand grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me to the center of the room, where the moon shined its light through the windows. He immerged from the shadows, the axe in his left hand, the knife in the other, a sickly smile painted with blood on his face.

I tried to jump to my feet knowing full well that the last place one should be when fighting was the ground but he quickly kicked me down and continued to kick me as he laughed at my pain. When he finally stopped, he forced me on my back and sat on my chest rendering it difficult for me to breathe properly.

My struggles for air only seemed to augment his amusement and the sound of his crazy laughter that I learned to hate ever so dearly. He moved in closer to my face, his blood scented breath tickling my cheeks unpleasantly as he spoke to me.

"How should I rid myself of the dread lord?" he asked, a giggle rolling behind his every word, "Quickly…or slowly to have him pay for his crimes?"

A burst of laughter passed his broken lips once he didn't hear my answer.

"Slowly it is!"

And immediately he stabbed the knife into my left shoulder as if to repay the wound I had inflicted on him. He ripped out of the knife fiercely only to stab back into place over and over again until the area bored him. Then, he trailed the bloody tip over my neck and smiled fondly at my reaction of utter terror.

How else was I supposed to feel? I was a hero nearing death, unable to save the one he had pledged to protect.

"Little dread lord," He chuckled, "it seems your reign of terror has come to an end."

He lifted the knife high above his head, the last thing I saw before closing my eyes was the shine of the tainted metal courtesy of the moonlight. Then I braced myself for the painful impact but instead I heard the sound of electrify and the shriek of the man above me.

I opened my eyes just in time to see him thump to the side, shuddering violently and uncontrollably as his body dealt with a high amount of intruding volts. I didn't hesitate a moment to jump to my feet, grab the axe and bring it down upon his head with all the strength I could muster. The axe's blade sliced through Mister Mean's skull completely with the first blow, halting all of his body's movements, leaving to stand, looming over a dead corpse, breathing heavily.

I looked around the room after a moment of realising that the threat was over, that whoever had been threatening us had finally died only to find Mattie, my brother, standing in the middle of light in darkness, with the taser clenched tightly in his hands. He looked at the body then at me and cried, dropping the weapon.

"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered between sobs, "Y-you told m-me not t-to move a-and I d-did but i-if I d-didn't you w-were…you w-were…"

I smiled softly and walked towards my sobbing brother but halted the second I felt the stinging pain in my left shoulder and my cheek. I fought through it until I finally reached my twin and hugged him tightly, "It's okay, Mattie." I whispered softly, "Thanks. I owe you one."

He nodded and continued sobbing into my chest while I held him and whispered words of comfort. Once he calmed down, he seemed a little different, as if he were…vacant but we continued towards the kitchen where we found the stove that was catching on fire. There was one leg on top, burnt from what I could tell from the smell, and instead of closing it, we left it as such as to have it burn down the building and the horrible memory it would become.

Just as the layout indicated, we found the entrance to the secret escape route behind a large shelf of books. I took my brother's hand before entering the exit to this nightmare and smiled at him one more time before entering the total darkness.

It had almost felt like an eternity, walking through that dense black but eventually, there was light and I was compelled to run towards it. We arrived at a door and pushed it open with the force needed since the hinges had rusted over the years exposing us to the refreshing night air.

I breathed it in heavily and looked at my brother once again, a smile that I hadn't worn in a long while on my face. We made eye contact for a brief moment and I swear I saw some sort of light flash in them when they fluttered closed and he fell to the floor. I had been so confused, so panicked at the time and hadn't known how to deal with what had just happened. It had taken some time for me to check his pulse and his breathing to confirm that he was still alive, relaxing me enough to slip him on my back and bring him home.

I knew I should have been headed towards a hospital but home seemed like the only rightful place.

It had taken me until noon of the following day to reach our old, torn, abandoned house and place him in my bed. I made a fire where I heated water that I used to clean Mattie as I pondered what to do next. I was no doctor; no health specialist thus dealing with someone in the given condition was something I was forced to go about blindly.

Mattie spent five days in that condition; I saw the lack of nutriments make its effect by the third day and seriously considered to send him to a hospital but, for some reason, resisted the urge. Even though he could have died from the lack of food and proper care he needed, I had the feeling that he would be fine, I just had to wait.

And, as I said, on the fifth day, Mattie opened his eyes and smiled upon seeing me. "Hey, bro."

My heart just…stopped. The familiarity in his voice, that look in his eyes, I knew he had come back to me somehow. I knew that the little brother I had known and loved before his accident had somehow returned to me and I wasn't about to let him leave any time soon. I didn't know what had brought him back to me but what I knew for a fact was that I didn't care and could care less.

I quickly embraced him as hard as could as tears poured down my face. No words could describe the relief I was feeling, to have the old Mattie back by my side.

He laughed and patted my back comfortingly before pushing me off gently. "I'm sorry." He apologized as he cupped my cheek, "I didn't mean for you to go through all of that…I just didn't want you to get hurt…"

I held his hands and laughed through my tears, "It doesn't matter," I said, "I don't care anymore. Let's just be happy and put all this behind us."

And we did.

The following day we packed the few things that would be of use to us before abandoning the already abandoned house for a brighter future. It wasn't long before we found a discarded newspaper dictating the events of five days prior, having the asylum on the front page. It showed a picture of the building burnt and told about how the few burnt corpses that were found had been mutilated before the fire even took place. Of course, for the general public, whatever happened at the asylum would remain a mystery but to Mattie and I, it would remain a horrible nightmare that would eventually fade away from our memories.

Sometimes, I find myself reliving the events, let it be from spontaneous flashes from the past or through my dreams. Needless to say that I try to push it away from my head but some questions that were never answered still haunt my being. How was it that Mattie had known so many details about the first person to die and the room we were going to look for after our discovery of the initial corpse? How was it that Mattie had been so attuned to sound? How was it that Mattie knew who that sick bastard was? And why, after killing him, did I not lift the hood to see his face?

However, my pondering of the questions soon come to an abrupt stop when I remember Arthur Kirkland, the doctor that had been a good friend to me and a loyal caretaker for my brother. I try to forget the last horrid image I had seen of him before leaving the asylum as to only remember his intact face but the horror of that day, of that night is most likely forever imprinted in me.

And maybe Mattie too.

Years have passed since that time, we moved to a different city, I landed a job and so did Mattie. With a huge amount of luck we managed to rise to the top of our stations and bring in a lot of money thus allowing us to live in a decent place and not some abandoned house in the outskirts of town.

Mattie doesn't seem to show any signs of traumatism from whatever had happened that time but, sometimes, at night, I notice him space out while holding Kumajirou and muttering French words of unfamiliarity.

"_Tu ne peu pas t'enfuir. L'inévitable est inévitable. Un jour, le cauchemar reviendra et là tu y perdras ta vie. Tu ne peu pas t'enfuir. L'inévitable est inévitable._"

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**So, of course, I'm not giving a translated version of whatever Canada said in French but I checked it with Google Translate real quick and the translation to English is good *YAY FOR BEING BILANGUAL***

**So this is the last chapter, I don't think I'll write an Epilogue for this because I don't think it **needs** one so I guess I can't say** 'SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER'** anymore which makes me kinda sad D:**

**I'll take this time to thank all of those who followed this short series, your report and your reviews were fun to read and, I know I didn't reply to all of you** *coughGuest/Mayacough* **but I really do appreciate whatever you had to say about this (except if it was mean lol) **

**So I hope you guys were entertained properly, because entertainning you guys is my job xP**

**And well...I don't think I have anything else to say anymore.**

**I HOPE I SEE SOME OF YOU IN MY OTHER STORIES! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT AND FAREWELL TO SOME OF YOU!**

* * *

_IF YOU LIKED THIS THEN YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE..._

* * *

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**Detective Bonnefoy - **Lord Edelstein was found murdered in his part-time home in England. The case has not been progressing for a month, and so the English call their last resort: the famous dectective, Francis Bonnefoy, who is to be paired with Arthur Kirkland. With a tangible tension rising from love and nationality, will the two manage to solve the case and find love? FrUk and France x Jeanne **(IN PROGRESS/HIATUS - 15 chapters)**

**Thus They All Died- "**I sent ten invitation letters to the ones I hated the most: America, Russia, England, Canada, France, Italy and his brother, Romano, Germany, Japan and, finally China. The countries were the results of my demise, of my falling. Although I am gone, I am still here, somehow, and I will have my vengeance." VILLAIN POV. Character death, violence - no specific pairing besides GerIta **(COMPLETE - 11 chapters)**

**Chasing Insanity - **One day, the nightmare will return and then you will lose your life. You do not just run away. The inevitable is inevitable. I should have known that returning to our normal lives after what happened all those years ago would be impossible. In my darkest hours, as I run around the country to find my brother before the cops do, I still believe in miracles. I will get Mattie back. No pairing. SEQUEL OF THE ASYLUM. **(IN PROGRESS - 3 chapters)**

**Circus Freak - **While on a well deserved break, detective Arthur Kirkland stumbles upon and saves an odd Ring Master named Francis Bonnefoy. Rewarded with a free show courtesy of the World Circus, he soon finds himself intertwined in an odd murder that he alone may solve. What is up with these Freaks? **(PENDING - 1 chapter)**


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